The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-10-27


were dead, and of the remainder of the
men at least five were seriously wounded.
The mutiny had not lasted above five
minutes. For long time after reached
the bow the men stood looking around
them without uttering q word. Then, at
last, Yankee sailor named Ben Lobdel,
who had bullet in his left shoulder,
stood out a little from the rest and said:
.Mates, we have been driven to mutiny
and murder. Aye, every man of you
knows we had to turn to save our own
lives against those officers lying dead. 1t
has all come about through the bad grub.
shall now order the cook to prepare us
breakfast, and after that is eaten we shall
consult as to what is to be done. Mean
while, as in duty bound, will set signal
of Distress
The steward got the flag from the locker
in the cabin and it was properly set.
Then the hurts of the wounded were
looked to, and by that time breakfast was
ready. 1t was served in our dishes and
eaten on deck, and not a man of US had a
we'd to say. lust as we were finishing
the cook and steward came out in COM
pany and hoped we would spare their
lives. Ben got up and replied.
.Don't take us for either mutineers or
murderers. What has been done was
only in self defense. The life of every
man here is as safe as in his own home.
Now, then, the first thing is to see who of
the poor fellows lying on the decks has a
bit of life left in him. s.
1.-THE captain and first mate were dead
enough, as was the case with the two
sailors, but the second mate had life in
him. When the men were driven to bay
they turned and used their sheath knives
and the. capstan bars. The second mate
had his left arm broken, and had received
two stabs. We took him down to his
berth, removed his clothes, and dressed
his hurts, and when the steward had pre-
pared him drink he opened his eyes, and
when he found that we were in possession
of the ship he said, in the presence of four
men: -..
az expected it would turn out this way,
but had to obey orders. While you have
done for me bear you no grudge. II you
draw up q statement of how it came
about, l will sign it,
drew up q statement Of fact, and the
mate, who hadn't two hours to live, af-
fixed his signature, and it was followed
by the name of every man in the ship.
Before noon he was dead, and after din
ner we buried all the bodies and made the
ship tidy. BY mutual consent Ben was
made captain, and sailor named Jack
Wonder was selected as mate. 1t was
our purpose to sail the ship back to Glas-
cow, and not O man was allowed in the
cabin, nor were any of the stores dis
turbed, except the provisions. The signal
was kept flying all day, but owing to the
calm we did not move half a mile. Just
at shutdown a steamer came up with US,
sent a boat aboard, and when told of what
had happened she put several men aboard
and got out @ tow line and made fast to
US. 1t was thus we returned to port, and
the news of our arrival and the mutiny
kicked up grand excitement. We were
at once put under arrest, as we expected
to be, and for the first week or two all
the talk was to the effect that every man
of us would be hanged. 1t didn't seem
to occur to the people at large that we
could have any defense, and we were
condemned long enough before the trial
came on. The owners of the ship were
rich as well as penurious, and they wanted
us executed as warning to other sailors.
However, when the trial came on the gen.
eral public got something to open their
eyes. Our lawyers had had the provisions
inspected by medical men, and had saved
samples for the jury. The medical gen.
tlemen affirmed that no human stomach
could retain such provisions, and recon-
mended that the owners be promptly
prosecuted. Then we had the name of
the mate to the statement Of facts, the
testimony of the steward and cook, and it
was shown that we had set a signal and
! behaved ourselves in an orderly way.
The case was decided in ten minutes,
and every man of US was set at liberty.
There was talk of suits against the ship
owners, but they sent an agent around to
each one of us with a $40 note, and we
made no move against them. Our trial
and the facts brought out brought to light
other facts, one of which was that British
sailors were treated worse than ours, and
were fed mostly on condemned stores. A
. social and political agitation resulted, and
from it grew the government inspectors
and the laws which give Sailor Jack the
rights of a human being. The move
which Plimsoll made against overlooking
was an offshoot of our mutiny, and I have
heard it declared that our adventure was
the best thing that could have happened
for sailors On any ocean.-New York Sun